Apprentice winner has designs on own fashion label after tribunal loss

Apprentice winner Stella English said she is “ready to move on” after losing her constructive dismissal claim against Lord Sugar and plans to launch her own fashion label inspired by Victoria Beckham.

The mother-of-two sued the Labour peer after resigning from the £100,000-a-year job that was her prize for winning the BBC1 show in 2010 but had her case dismissed.

She told Hello! magazine: “I’m ready to move on to the next phase of my life. My career is just beginning, not ending.”

English said she went to the tribunal because she wanted to be heard, adding: “I certainly feel I’ve got it off my chest now.

“I’ve drawn a line under it. It has been a very difficult time and I’m very sorry it ended the way that it did. But I’m now earning twice as much money as I did when I worked for Lord Sugar.”

She said she was shocked when the peer called her a “money grabber” and admitted it was “very, very hurtful”, but added: “It’s up to him how he chooses to convey his thoughts. I think mine are best said at home behind closed doors.”

English praised her husband, Ray, for giving up work as a plumber to look after their children Edward, six, and Frank, four, at their home in Whitstable, Kent.

She said: “Poor guy, he has got a lot of grey hairs from the last six years of being with me. But he’s very proud to see I’m no walkover.”

The 34-year-old said the inspiration for the Miss English label, which aims to design clothes for businesswomen, came from hearing Beckham talk about her design career.

She said: “Victoria said that when she first launched her label, everyone was very dubious about it. But she is one of the world’s most influential designers now. That is so inspiring and it further cemented for me that this is what I want to do.”